Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Reaches New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $82.50 and last traded at $82.45, with a volume of 108081 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $80.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEGA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.90.

Pegasystems Stock Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.67 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.20 and a 200-day moving average of $64.66.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. Pegasystems's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.76%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 15,271 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total transaction of $1,057,516.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 371,787 shares in the company, valued at $25,746,249.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 15,271 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total transaction of $1,057,516.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 371,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,746,249.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.41, for a total value of $70,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,274,417.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,548 shares of company stock worth $3,591,018 over the last three months. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 5.0% in the second quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the technology company's stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,099 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Pegasystems by 2.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,744 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP lifted its position in Pegasystems by 2.7% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 13,690 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pegasystems Company Profile

Pegasystems Inc develops, markets, licenses, hosts, and supports enterprise software in the United States, rest of the Americas, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company provides Pega Infinity, a software portfolio comprising of Pega Customer Decision Hub, a real-time AI-powered decision engine to enhance customer acquisition and experiences across inbound, outbound, and paid media channels; Pega Customer Service to anticipate customer needs, connect customers to people and systems, and automate customer interactions to evolve the customer service experience, as well as to allow enterprises to deliver interactions across channels and enhance employee productivity; and Pega Platform, an intelligent automation software for increasing efficiency of clients' processes and workflows.